It's a really sad day

[paininthenuts]

A few months ago my wife and I retired. Of course this was great, as I am only 57, but have managed to do things right, and have controlled my finances so I could do this. Of course, we no longer need 2 cars. I bought my wife her life's ambition last year, a Peugeot 207cc. For those of you not familiar with the car, it is a very small hard top convertible. It's what we call in Britain "a hairdressers car". She always dreamed of having a convertible, and after a year I had to tell her it was to go. You see, it is far to small to keep as the only car in the household. To her appease her I have now made the ultimate sacrifice. I have traded in both her car and the Kizashi, yes, the Kizashi, for another car. I have bought a Vauxhall Cascada, convertible 2ltr diesel Elite (manual). To be honest, it's almost as rare as the Kizi, and as yet I haven't seen one on the road in the UK. It's very well specked, and I have managed to get new one with the upgraded wheels and a sat nav. The diesel unit is nearly as quick as the Kizi, and does about 50 mpg. I will miss the Kizi desperately, and thinking about it going, makes me feel very sad. I am taking off the cherished plate and selling it, so if there is anyone out there from the UK who is after K15ASY, email me at [email protected]. Here is the picture of the car, I think you will be impressed. Unfortunately the pictures on the site make it look a bit dumpy, but in reality it is quite low and about the same length as the Kizi. The reviews are brilliant, and some car journalists say it's better than the Audis.
The full price was £30,600, ($45,000)but I managed to get it for £21,500 ($33,000)

[DesRado]

Congrats on the new ride. Sorry to hear about the Kiz though. Be sure to come back here from time to time to get your Kizashi fix lol

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[KuroNekko]

Wow, surprised to see you of all people give up the Kizashi but that is life.
The Cascada is actually a car that will be offered in the US later this year. It will be sold under the Buick brand given we have neither Vauxhall nor Opel in the United States. I'm curious to see how it will do given FWD convertibles are very rare. Most have gone out of production from low sales as recently seen with the late VW Eos and the last generation Chrysler 200 Convertible.
We surely won't get either a diesel engine nor a manual transmission over here. It will likely be offered with a small displacement gasoline/petrol turbo engine exclusively mated to an automatic transmission especially given the target consumer in our market.

Let us know how you like it. In case you're interested, here's the US page for the car as a "future vehicle" for Buick:
http://www.buick.com/cascada-luxury-convertible.html

[paininthenuts]

Wow, surprised to see you of all people give up the Kizashi but that is life.
The Cascada is actually a car that will be offered in the US later this year. It will be sold under the Buick brand given we have neither Vauxhall nor Opel in the United States. I'm curious to see how it will do given FWD convertibles are very rare. Most have gone out of production from low sales as recently seen with the late VW Eos and the last generation Chrysler 200 Convertible.
We surely won't get either a diesel engine nor a manual transmission over here. It will likely be offered with a small displacement gasoline/petrol turbo engine exclusively mated to an automatic transmission especially given the target consumer in our market.

Let us know how you like it. In case you're interested, here's the US page for the car as a "future vehicle" for Buick:
http://www.buick.com/cascada-luxury-convertible.html

I am gutted. I love the kizi, but I had to find a compromise. There is a 1.6 petrol turbo, albeit the big seller in the UK is 1.4. The 1.6 has 193 bhp and is quite rapid. It's strange the eos didn't work in the states, as it has done reasonably well here. Front wheel drive is very much the norm here, so that's probably why

[Fritz2]

That's a really nice looking car! Not too difficult to picture that as a convertible Kizashi variant! I bet the diesel has some useful grunt on takeoff as well.

[DesRado]

I like the Cascadas wheels better that the Buick variant by far. US has such finicky markets, just like with the target market for the convertible Murano. Pretty sure Nobody asked for that, yet everyone wanted an IDx and Nissan pretty much said "Nah...to much of a niche market" what???

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[paininthenuts]

That's a really nice looking car! Not too difficult to picture that as a convertible Kizashi variant! I bet the diesel has some useful grunt on takeoff as well.

I think the one I am buying is 168bhp, which combined with the massive torque makes it pretty quick. On paper it is half a second slower 0-60 than the Kizi, but it feels as quick. There is a diesel unit that throws out 193bhp, and is very quick, but I couldn't afford it. The great thing is that it averages in excess of 50mpg. I have bought the top of the range model + sat nav + wheel upgrade, it still isn't as well spec'd as the Kizi, although I do get a seat belt presenter, and a heated steering wheel. As much as I am looking forward to getting it, I am dreading saying good bye to the Kizi.

[Ronzuki]

Sorry to see you've lost your Kizi, but....happy wife, happy life...especially since you're retired!

Always enjoyed your posts. Take care and stop back in every now and again.